


The Care and Keeping of Cassetticons

by SoDoLaFaMiDoRe



Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers Generation One
Genre: Family, Mama!Soundwave, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 07:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2957117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoDoLaFaMiDoRe/pseuds/SoDoLaFaMiDoRe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A day in the life of Soundwave and the Casseticons, and how Soundwave keeps their little family together through time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Protection

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This so SoDo with a new fic, focused around Soundwave and the babies! This is all set within the G1 cartoon, probably won't reference many episodes, and is just focusing on how Soundwave interacts with the cassettes. This is unbeta'd, so if you spot a mistake let me know! Anyway, thank you and enjoy!

     When Soundwave had first started to follow Megatron, his family hadn’t been as large. Only Ravage and the twins had been with him, and Soundwave was largely protective of his small charges. His loyalty to Megatron had been quite apparent from day one, and the quiet mech kept to himself and his own when he wasn’t on duty. Which was when, in the early days of the war, Megatron had learned something surprising about the communications officer.

     A battle hadn’t gone as well as planned, the Decepticons taking heavy blows from the Autobot faction before Megatron had called a retreat. Stinging from the losses and shaking with anger, Megatron felt that someone had to be blamed for the loss. Remembering that a portion of their group had been missing on the way to battle due to faulty information, the communications officer would be as good a target as any to destress.

     Storming off, he found Soundwave in a quiet hallway conversing with Ravage, Rumble and Frenzy, returning them to the compartment in his chest after a final nod. Turning to face Megatron as he stormed up, Megatron immediately began an onslaught, yelling and screaming how Soundwave had taken a Decepticon victory from him. Soundwave, for his part, was quiet throughout the berating, letting Megatron say what he needed without a move or a twitch in his own defense.

     Until Megatron started to jab his finger at him. Soundwave didn’t react when it was pointed at his face, but the jab went lower as Megatron started to curse out his family. “If it wasn’t for your little runts we wouldn’t be in this mess! They’re a constant distrac-” A particularly hard point had the Decepticon leader jamming his finger onto the Deceptibrand on Soundwave’s chest, and in the next moment the leader found himself flying through the air and landing on his back with a hard whump. Stunned, he looked up into the unchanging visor, but the posture and voice said it all. The hard pede in his throat, combined with the speed of the situation, left Megatron speechless.

     “Soundwave: Loyal to Megatron. However: more loyal to cassetticons. Megatron: Not foolish enough to touch cassetticons again. Consequences: Dire.” Feeling that his point was made, Soundwave removed his pede and walked off to his niche in the Command Center. Megatron was smarting from the insult of the situation, but he was no fool. Getting up, he made a note to not make an insinuation about the cassetticons in front of the communications officer again.


	2. Relaxing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Downtime with the Casseticons and their Carrier!

     It wasn’t often that Soundwave had time to spend to spend with his family anymore. The war with the Autobots had been growing more tense, and resources had been starting to be harder to win. Megatron had been conversing with him about tightening rations, and Soundwave noted that he wasn’t able to make as many cassetticon-sized energon boxes as usual. The struggled were only going to get worse as their time on Earth dragged on. He knew times like these were going to be rarer as time went on.

     He felt the warm and fun of the moment in his Spark though, the feelings of his cassettes bleeding through and overpowering the bad feelings of the future with the soft love of the present. Turning his attention back to the scene, he noted Ravage was soundly beating Rumble at the human game of Dance Dance Revolution. They were having fun though, Laserbeak perched above and squawking commentary, with Frenzy throwing a mixture of insults and encouragements at his Spark twin. The scene was comforting and common, and Soundwave flicked on a special camera in his optic sensors to record the scene as he relaxed in the room.

     He knew their family wouldn’t last forever. The war had killed too many of his comrades for him to accept the miracle that they could all survive. But until then, he’d be damned to the Pit if he didn’t make sure his charges weren’t provided for. Leaving behind the introspective feelings, he opened up the Sparkbond more and sent packets of love and warmth to each of the cassettes. They each responded in kind, Frenzy looking over and giving him a rare smile. It quickly changed into a malacious grin, and he called for action from the others. “EVERYBODY DOGPILE BOSS BOT!” Soundwave could only duly note the surprise as he was suddenly tackled by a mass of bodies, Laserbeak chirping as she swooped to perch on his head. Knocked back to lie on the berth, Soundwave grabbed all the cassettes and cuddled them close, as they began to relax in the calm warmth their carrier emitted.

     Within a joor, the cassettes were all in recharge, and Soundwave clicked off the video after one last look. It wouldn’t last forever, but he swore to make sure it was as long as possible for them, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Have a nice time wherever you are!


	3. Eating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soundwave makes sure the Cassettes will always have food on his watch

     Meal-times had always been hectic for Soundwave. Most of the Cassettes ran with smaller tanks than other Cybertronians, meaning they needed refueling far more often in smaller amounts. While a cube could easily feed both Rumble and Frenzy, there were always arguments about who had drunk more energon from the large boxes. So, Soundwave began to experiment with cube sizes and the storage capacity in his chest, wishing for a method that would make fueling the cassetticons easier.

     It turns out, after only a small bit of trial and error and a few lesser rations for himself, he found the perfect dimensions to store as many cubes as possible, while making sure all the cassettes would be able to have a proper amount of fuel. Making a few cubes, Soundwave ran a few calculations on how many he could store with enough room for the cassettes, and kept the proper amount of cubes stockpiled in his chest from that day on.

     Now, whenever a cassette wanted energon, they’d just have to ask for some and they’d get an equal ration every time. This cut down on processor aches from the twins, and allowed him to monitor that all of the symbiotes were getting the proper amounts of fuel. It made mealtimes a lot less stressful for the carrier, and quick fuel on the battlefield. It had even saved Ravage’s life at one point when Soundwave made an emergency energon drip after a particularly nasty wound.

     The cubes weren’t always the easiest to create , however, especially when the Decepticons were suffering heavy defeats every time they fought the Autobots. This lead to tight rations and fighting between the lower Decepticons, and many knew of the boxes Soundwave kept in his chest, eyeing the glass hungrily when they had too many failures in a row. Soundwave himself was suffering from the cutbacks, running at sub-optimal fuel to make sure that the Cassettes were provided for.

     The Cassettes were never hungry, but when Soundwave nearly collapsed in battle from the fatigue, the twins tried to force him to at least lower their rations a little to keep himself functioning. But no matter what, Soundwave refused that idea. Those in his care would never have to want for energon the way he had as a sparkling, a promise he’d made long ago. It did get better with some decisive victories, but the Cassettes were always careful to make sure their Carrier didn’t burn out in providing fuel for them after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very very much for reading! I hope you have a nice time wherever you are, and enjoy the New Year safely! Thank you to everyone who's commented, kudo'd, bookmarked, and read, you're all amazing!


	4. Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some serious, but nowhere near fatal, injuries on some characters

     Soundwave always fretted when his cassettes were called into battle. They would always be guaranteed safety in his chest, but not out fighting the Autobots. While the cassetticons are considered different than other mechs, they were still in danger whenever they went out to fight. Soundwave was especially worried over the twins, as they tended to throw themselves with reckless abandon into every battle. 

      Ravage could handle herself, and Laserbeak always stayed out of heat of battle, but the twins always seemed to go for the biggest mechs they could. Rumble and Frenzy normally wound up tag-teaming on one of the bigger mechs of the Autobots, such as Hound or Jazz. This left them limping during retreats and a very nervous Soundwave whenever their comms would stutter during the battle.

     The worst fight had been when Megatron ordered a very badly-timed attack on the Ark, surrounding the Decepticons with Autobots who held a homefront advantage. Soundwave had his processor spilt in a million different directions, keeping a very close eye on the Sparkbond to make sure that none of the cassettes would be in danger of offlining. 

      Megatron beat a hasty retreat when it became clear any more fighting would lead to off linings, Ravage and Laserbeak easily making it back to hide in his chest. Cutting into Soundwave’s processor across the comms, Rumble was calling for backup. “Hey Bossbot, we’re a little busy kicking some skidplate, but we saved some for you!” Soundwave could feel the apprehension trickling across the bond, and just as he prepared to rush in and help, pain shot across the bond and made him stagger.

     Whipping his head around, he heard a pained scream from Frenzy and sprinted to the source, ignoring the chaotic retreat as he rounded around a rock and saw Frenzy clutching his shoulder, his arm a good hundred feet away and completely crushed. Rumble was face first in the dirt, clutching a noticeable hole in his knee strut, seething and covered in smaller scrapes and burns. 

      Assessing that both the bots wouldn’t immediately offline, Soundwave carefully went to Frenzy and pulled out a field medic kit. “Rumble: Don’t move.” He ordered, clamping as many major arteries as he could before helping Frenzy to stand. “Query: Frenzy able to transform?” Frenzy nodded, the sound of broken gears straining before he shook his head no. Soundwave helped him over to Rumble, and the twins comforted one another as Soundwave set to work patching what he could, nothing that the Autobots would be coming back into the area within minutes. 

      Once he was sure he’d done all he could to help, Soundwave hefted Rumble over his shoulder and cradled Frenzy in the other arm, feeling the familiar weight as his symbiote wrapped their arms around him for stability. At that, they set off for the trek back to base, taking a long route to make sure there would be no more incidents with the Autobots.

     Soundwave was always concerned when any of cassettes were sent off to fight. It was always nerve wracking when they left his sight. Looking at the twins in his arms, and feeling the cassettes in his chest, he mulled over the incident. Even long after it had past, when the twins just sported new additions to their many welding scars, Soundwave would remind himself of the fear he felt for them, and cuddle them a little closer. Soundwave never liked the cassettes in battle, and hoped that if he just fought hard enough, the war could end and on an impossible chance, be together. Safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Here's to a good 2015!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If anyone would like to beta, it'd be greatly appreciated.


End file.
